Malaysian Refugees: Silent Voices in Our Midst
http://www.aliran.com/web-specials-mainmenu-40/55-2008/567-hidden-voices
Most of us have never met a refugee, let alone
heard them speak for themselves. Our newspapers
ignore them. And we rarely see them in the open.
Here the stories of two refugees who tell us about
their experiences in Burma and the circumstances
that forced them to flee to Malaysia. We have only
edited for spelling and punctuation; so you get to
hear them speaking in their own voices.
My Name is Maha. I am a Refugee. Burma is ruled by a cruel, violent,
repressive
military junta, I come from one of the Burmese indigenous groups. I have
been here
since 2005. In my state there are many soldiers, we are subjected to
forced Labor, we
are working for no pay, our farms and land are confiscated, and we are
forced to
reallocate our homes and sometimes whole village.
There is forced conscription into the army; there is religions persecution
against
Christians; our ethnic language and culture are repressed; we are not
allowed to
freely celebrate our culture; we have limited access to education and
health care. We
do not have enough food; electricity is very limited.
My village is a small village. I stay with my family without father since
1998
because my father has been arrested by Burmese military junta for selling
wood. After
1995, we cannot celebrate our New Year or our culture. They called us for
forced
labour on April 2004. They confiscated our farms to replace our crops with
their
coffee project. We were forced to grow coffee for no pay.
So I asked for some wages for our family consumption; the soldiers beat me
and two
friends. They are all three soldiers but they have guns and my friends
helped us by
fighting them back, and then we took their guns and ran to the jungle. We
threw their
guns into the water at the wilderness. We all wanted to go back to our
small village
as we were worried about our family in case they also faced violence from
the
soldiers but then they took hunting dog and tried to find us. We all ran
for three
day without food. We were all very frightened on our journey as, if they
found us,
they would kill us; so we ran to Thai border and began working there, and
then we
went to Chiang Mai in Thailand.
We thought if the police caught us they would send us to Burma's soldiers;
so we
decided to move to Malaysia using people brokers. We have to pay people
brokers
between RM1,000 and RM2,000 to bring us here and the journey they take us
two weeks.
(On occasion, people come by private trans****t and only have to pay for
fuel costs).
But in Malaysia we have very little access to education and have no peace
of mind. We
are not recognised as refugees and are classed as illegal migrant workers.
We live in
fear of Rela and police operations, and our physical and mental health
suffers
greatly. If we are arrested we are detained for at least two weeks and
then de****ted
to the Thai border. There we end up in the hands of people brokers and if
we cannot
pay the price we must pay to return to Malaysia, we are sold to the Thai
fi****ng-boats and the women are sold into prostitution.
We also face being whipped as part of our punishment for being
undocumented. This
leaves great mental scars as well as physical ones. We are unable to go
back to Burma
as we face arrest upon return and imprisonment. We want to live freely and
peacefully
in Malaysia; we want the right to work and have access to education.
Eventually, we
would like to go home to Burma when there is a regime change.
Forced Labour
From Mr. Maha
I am from Myanmar Country. I am 16 years old. My father is farmer and my
mother is
housewife. I lived at Maw Hpawng town in Kachin State.
In the year of 2006 , the whole village was called to work to make the
street to the
way to army camp near the village from every house each person. At my
home, my father
was sick and he could not able to go to the work place where the army
camp. Instead
of my father, I went to work there. I carried stones and dug for the
street. I
cleaned the bushes and cut the trees.
After one week, I was sick with malaria and I was seriously ill. I was
forced to go
work although I was sick. I was slapped by soldiers and got tortured as I
had to
kneel down on the ground for hours. I could not able to bear all kinds of
their
patterns of torture. The soldier asked me to work again. I refused to work
that's why
they tied my both hands with nylon rope. I was hunger and thirst. There is
no one to
provide food and give me water about three days.
After that, I tried and escaped from the army camp; if I did not fled from
the army
camp, I would be killed or died. Therefore I decided to run out of my
country.
Now I am in Malaysia. I am afraid of gangsters. They asked me money at the
bus stop.
I said to them that I do not have money; then they started to kick me very
badly.
I would like to request you to kindly concern for me and to withdraw
Rela's power to
conduct raids and to arrest refugees which directly affect our community.
If you
could help me, I would be very much appreciated.
--
_____________________________________________________
I intend to last long enough to put out of business all COck-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictator****ps and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
___________________________________________________
--
|
